38 thoughts on “Overcoming the Downside of Pursuing Excellence”

Dan, great post as usual. The “should have” reminds me of the “parent/child” management of old, it is demeaning and almost mean spirited. I’ve learned over the years to focus on the future and ask questions such as the one you listed, “What did we learn that we can take forward?” One of my mentors consistently asks quesitons, never offers solutions. That is why I so respect this individual.

That is all I used to do : should’ve, would’ve, and could’ve! Nowadays, I’m living the life I always dreamed of without demanding complete perfection or excellence :)) Thanks for a very insightful post :))

The best ways in which an organization can opursue excellence is as you have said, ask the right questions. If you “usual” questions aren’t working, you need to ask everyone involved: a) what did we learn, b) where do we go from here, what do we do next. The answers lie in your expectation for concrete and actionable suggestions

Perceived “failures” should all be viewed as opportunities to learn something.

Dan, you are so right. With the pursuit of excellence it is so easy to focus on the moment (the should have; the past) and not to focus on the journey (the next time; the future). I think it is important for leaders to frequently remind everyone that excellence is a journey and each attempt gets us closer to where we want to be as long as we are moving forward.

When we (Hewitt Associates) were training managers, we’d emphasize two things about conversations re: performance: future orientation and positive attitude. The manager conveys that her major focus is on what happens in the future and does it without a blaming tone for what happened in the past. If she does those two things, she can talk about what went well and didn’t go well in a non-adversarial way that leads to better performance in the future.

I like using the feedback questions “What went well?” and “What would you do differently?”. Both of these are focusing on how to improve moving forward which is the point of making changes in what you do.

Maybe one way to look at it is to focus on the journey and not the destination. Excellence can also be found in how you move forward. Not just in where you got to. If we have an excellent journey, and it isn’t over yet, that’s a good thing.

You’ve really hit the nail on the head here, Dan. This was a valuable reminder to me today, thank you. Those engaged in the pursuit of excellence, who recognize mishaps as valuable lessons, versus the perfectionist who finds remorse and negativity in these “blemishes” are happier and more productive participants. Every strength has it’s dark side, eh? 🙂

I find it extremely frustrating to be told what I should have done, or what my team should have done – with the benefit of more information, hindsight, and time – by people who weren’t active participants in the action.

The army’s After Action Review process is much more constructive. It is done by team members themselves immediately after action, and uses 4 questions:

1) What was supposed to happen?
2) What actually happened?
3) Why was there a difference?
4) What can we learn from that?

This approach is fact-based, improvement-focused, and non-judgmental, without a time lag to blur memories. There may be times when it results in deep self-reflection, and even in apologies and behavioral change, and other times when it results in high-fives. Learning from the group’s After Action Review can recorded and shared across the organization.

In our organization we do a lot of similar debriefing/learning as we work to develop a new technology. The interchange is constructive, and people have learned to challenge each other deeply in order to get better results. I have wonderful people working for me, in fact the most cohesive and productive team I’ve ever managed. I firmly believe that the constant drive to achieve a common purpose in what is a very difficult undertaking has been very good for us. We do not gloss over setbacks and failures, nor spend much time celebrating successes before moving on to the next issue. As a result, work is tiring, but exhilirating. We take as much as 3 months to hire people, are extremely picky about hiring both character and performance, but have a great team. Our turnover rate is under 5%.

On the flip side, I was recently part of a conversation that went completely in the opposite direction. A very senior person in the organization reviewed recent performance, was frustrated, threatened very seriously to fire any person who made a mistake during an upcoming event, even if unintentional. Fortunately, the executives listening to that person did not pass the threat down the line, and it had no consequences on the tired and hardworking people who were actually getting the work done.

Of three approaches (1) blame and threats (2) glossing over issues and complacency (3) after-action review and communication with deep change, I believe only the 3rd will produce organizational learning of lasting value.

A great one there! so precise, seems simple but truly loaded with priceless tactics of attaining true excellence…. The knowledge is not only deep but also pratical and factual. Good job, Dan! i ll be expecting so much more, but to the conclusion paragraph, i believe more ought to have been added to the bonus point, than your rheotrical approach, but still ok, only i believe you would possibly give us more than that, as you say”there is no done in excellence” and i ll had there still so much more.

So, the more helpful question would be “Is it better?” rather than, “Is it excellent?” I interpret your words to mean that “better” can be a definable point of progress worthy of celebration within a process of improvement until “good enough” or until “excellence” is declared. Am I correct here? Thanks for an insightful article!